Body positive may be an over-used phrase right now, but personal care brand Dove are continuing to put their money where their mouth is – by using ‘real’ women instead of leggy supermodels few of us can identify with.
It’s easy to forget that it was Dove that first championed body confidence back in 2004 when it launched a game-changing campaign titled ‘Real Beauty’- the first of its kind to feature real women (10 real women to be exact) in an advert.
Now celebrating its 60th anniversary, the beauty brand is continuing to lead the way with its new ‘Real Beauty Showcase’ – a campaign that that has cast 32 ‘real’ women who represent 15 different countries and a range of diverse ages from 11 to 71.
The even better news? Legendary photographer Mario Testino signed up for the shoot – and it turns out he has strong thoughts about it:
“A photographer has a choice,” he said. “They can take a picture and make it about themselves by using avant-garde techniques, sometimes capturing the weakness in women, or they can choose to give their picture over to the woman in front of the lens by making her look herself and feel her most powerful.”
Examples of the power of women can be found in Dove’s latest campaign:
from a medal-winning Paralympian who lost her leg to cancer, to a
Mexican female football fan who decided to start her own club for girls
to encourage them to stick at sports in their teens.
It’s important to point out here that none of the women were photoshopped or visually manipulated, and every woman had the final say on which image of herself should be released. It’s a decision that aims to empower women after Dove’s latest survey shockingly revealed that although 7 in 10 women are proud to be female, 71% of women and 67% of girls wish the media did a better job of portraying them.
60 years after Dove launched its toiletries and beauty producrs in 1957, there is still a lot more work to be done…
